for their management, based on a thorough expert examination." 

 Mr. Pinchot shows just why forestry is a good business measure for 

 the lumberman, and explains the various ways in which the Bureau 

 of Forestr}^ is serving the lumber interests of the countr}". 



FORESTRY AND FORESTERS. « 



By Theodore Roosevelt. 



1 have felt that the meeting this evening* was of such a character as 

 not merely to warrant but to require that I should break through m}^ 

 custom of not going out to make speeches of this sort, for I believe 

 that there is no body of men who have it in their power to-day to do 

 a greater service to the country than those engaged in the scientific 

 study of, and practical application of, approved methods of forestry 

 for the preservation of the woods of the United States. I am glad to 

 see here this evening not only the officials, including the head of the 

 Department of Agriculture, but such men as Governor Richards, who 

 are most concerned in carr^dng out the polic}^ of the Department of 

 the Interior, because the forest policy of any country must be an 

 essential part of its land policy. 



And now, first and foremost, you can never afford to forget for one 

 moment what is the object of our forest polic3^ That object is not to 

 preserve the forests because they are beautiful, though that is good 

 in itself, nor because they are refuges for the wild creatures of the 

 wilderness, though that, too, is good in itself; but the primar}^ object 

 of our forest policy, as of the land policy of the United States, is the 

 making of prosperous homes. It is part of the traditional policy of 

 home making of our country. Every other consideration comes as 

 secondary. The whole effort of the Government in dealing w^th the 

 forests must be directed to this end, keeping in view the fact that it is 

 not onl}^ necessary to start the homes as prosperous, but to keep them 

 so. That is why the forests have got to be kept. You can start a 

 prosperous home by destroying the forests, but you can not keep it 

 prosperous that way. 



And you are going to be able to make that policy permanenth' the 

 policy of the country onl}^ in so far as 3^ou are able to make the people 

 at large, and, above all, the people concretely interested in the results 

 in the different localities, appreciative of what it means. Impress 

 upon them the full recognition of the value of its policy, and make 

 them earnest and zealous adherents of it. Keep in mind the fact that 

 in a government such as ours it is out of the question to impose a 

 polic}^ like this from without. The polic}^, as a permanent policy, can 

 come only from the intelligent conviction of the people themselves 

 that it is wise and useful; na}^, indispensable. We shall decide, in the 



« Address delivered March 26, 1903, before The Society of American Foresters, a 

 professional body, of which President Roosevelt is an associate mcDiber. 



